Rotary engine.



PATENTED APR. 7, 1908.

G. W. HOPKINS, DEGD.

M. HOPKINS, ADMINISTRATRIX.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A TTORNEYS PATENTED APR. 7, 1908.

HOPKINS, DEGD.

TARY ENGINE.

4. A fi w m8 m l .M W r Q8 m u m \IIIIIIWII m rm l kwn www i l y Q A fi m NM W a I- lw 1 k A m W \E m AF 4 2/14 5 NITED STATES -PA TENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. HOPKINS, OF

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; MARTHA HOPKINS ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID GEORGE W. HOPKINS, DECEASED.

ROTARY ENGINE.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 7, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HOPKINS, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilledin the art to which it ap ertains to make and use the same.

his invention relates to rotary engines, and the ob'ect thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which is simple in construction and operation and comparatively inex ensive and whichmay be easily reversed w enever desired; and with this and other objects in view the invention consists in a rotary engine constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is full disclosed in the following specification, 0 which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my inprovement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of my improved rotary engine on the line xm of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section on the line 'y'y of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 a perspective view of one part of the piston of my im roved rotary engine, on an enlarged sca e; Fig. 3* a lon itudinal section on the line 33 of Fig. 3; ig. 4 a perspective view of another part of the piston of my improved rotary engine; Fig. 4 a section on the line 4 4 0 Fig. 4 and on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 5 an end view of that part of the piston shown in Fig. 4 and 4.

In the practice of my invention, provide a main casing 11 having a substantial and flat base portion a and a flat top portion a to which is secured a supplemental to casing 12, and the main casing a is provided ongitudinally thereof with a cylindrical chamber a, through which is eccentrically assed a shaft 0. In connection with the sha t c I employ a iston rotatable with said shaft in the cham- E'er a, and said piston comprises a main cylindrical part (i rigidly connected with the shaft 0 and shown in perspective in Fig. 4. The part (I of the piston is provided with a central longitudinal bore d throu h which the shaft 0 asses, and each end t ereof is provided wit a circular recess d and the op-' nected opposite parallel side members a and the other end part 6 of which is provided with oppositely directed side members 6 which are bolted, screwed or otherwise secured to the parallel side members c and form an extension thereof, and in the outer sides of the arallel. members e, and theextension e of the end plate or part a of the movable piston member, are deep longitudinal grooves e in which are placed radially movable packin s or acking members e be tween which an the f of the piston are laced spiral springs c as clearly shown in ig. 3 and which serve to force the packing members 6 outwardly.

The central portions of the end arts or members e and e of the supplementa part of the piston are circular in form, and when the parts are assembled they fit in the circular recesses d in the opposite ends of the main part (1 of the piston, and said end port-ions e and c of the sup lcniental part of the piston are provided wit-ii oblong central openings 6 through which the shaft 0 passes, and when the se arate parts d and e of the piston are assembled, the parallel side portions 6 of the part e fit in the recesses d of the art d and the part e is movable radially on t e shaft 0.

In the opposite ends of the chamber a in the casing a are laced metallic acking plates f and the en portions of said casing are provided with recesses f in which are placed spiral sprin s f which bear on said packing plates and orce them into close contact or connection with the opposite end portions of the piston as shown 1n Fig. 2.

In the top ortion of the casin a, or in the top wall of tlie chamber a is a ongitudinal chamber in which is placed a packing g, and in the top art of said casing are placed springs g wliich bear on said packing and force it inwardly.

In the top ortion of the supplemental top ramework of the part c casing b is a orizontal steam supply chamher I) is a horizontal steam discharge chamber b with one end portion of which a steam I exhaust pipe I) communicates.

A vertlcall and centrally arranged port I) connects t e steam exhaust chamber 1) with the steam supply chamber 6, and at one side thereof is a steam port it which communicates with the bottom art of the steam sup ly chamber 6 at one si e thereof and extends downwardly through the supplemental top casing band into the main casing a where it is curved outwardly and downwardly and inwardly as shown at h and communicates with one side portion of the chamber a at h. On the o posite sideof the steam exhaust chamber is another steam port '5 which also communicates with the bottom part of the steam supply chamber 1) at one side thereof, and'extends downwardly through the base portion of the to casing b and into the bottom casing a, W ere it is curved outwardly and downwardly and inwardly as shown at i and communicates with the chamber a. at i opposite the point where the port It communicates therewith.

Within'the steam supply chamber-b is a reverse valve which extends longitudinally therethrough and the bottom portion of which is segmental in cross section and forms a longitudinal port or passa e and said reverse valve is provided wit a shaft j which passes out t ough one end wall of the steam supply chamber 1) and is provided with a handle 3' by which it may be operated. The central part of the shaft 1' of the reverse valve 3' is made rectangular in cross section and fits in the corresponding recess in the body portion of said valve as clearly shown in Fig. 1, the object of this construction being to be able to make the main. art of the valve and the shaft thereof of di erent ma-' terial.

The operation will be readily understood from the.foregoing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the following statement thereof. Suppose the valve to be in the position shown in Fig. 1. in this case steam will enter the chamber b through the pipe 6 and pass through the port 72. into the piston or cylindrical chamber a as shown by the arrows to, and the piston will be turned in the direction of the arrow W, and the steam will be exhausted as shown by the arrows 'w through the port '5, the port or passage in the bottom of the valve y' into the exhaust chamber 6 from which it will be discharged through the pipe 6*. This will result, as will be understood, in a continuous rotation of the piston and shaft 6 and the power roduced may be transmitted from said s aft for any desired purpose and in the usual way. If it is desired to reverse the engine, the valvev is turned into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, in which case steam will enter the piston throu h the port 6 and will exhausted throu the port h.

.It will be un erstood b reason ofthe eccentric position of the sha tcin the chamber a and the radial movement of the part e of the piston, the packing members e? are continually forced against the walls of the chamber q. and form a perfectly steam tight connectlon therewith, and no steam is able to pass around said packing, and the full force of the steam is thus employed to rotate the piston and the shaft 0. In the construction shown, the central portions of the end members e and e of the supplemental part of the piston are made circular in form, and the chambersor re- 'cesses d in the opposite end portions of the part 6. of the piston are also made circular in form, and with this construction it is necessary for the chambers or recesses d to be larger than the central circular portions of the end portions e and e of the art e of the piston, all as clearly shown in Fig. 1,' and with all the parts of the relative size shown in the drawing, this construction is probably necessary in order to provide room for the shaft 0 in the end portions of the part e of the piston and for the openings 4; through which said shaft passes, but it will be apparent that the shape of these parts is not an essential feature, and the recesses 11 in the ends of the part cl of the piston may be of other forms as may also the end portions e and e of the part c of the. iston, and other changes in and modifications of the construction described may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a rota engine, a casing rovided with a cylindrica chamber, a sha t passing eccentrically and longitudinally therethrough, steam orts communicating with the opposite si e ortions of said chamber, one of which is a apted to serve as a supply and the other as an exhaust, and a piston connected with said shaft and composed of two parts,

parts bemgprovided in their outer surfaces with spring operated packings which extend lon 'tudinally thereo and the to wall of sai chamber being also provide with a Ill spring operated packing, the end walls of I my invention I have 'signed my. name in said chamber being also provided with presence of the subscribing witnesses this c0unter-sunk spring operated packing plates 17th day of August, 1907. of the same diametrical dimensions as said 1 GEORGE W. HOPKINS. 5 chamber and adapted to bear on the ends of Witnesses:

the parts of the lston. C. E. MULREANY,

In testimony t at I claim the foregoing as LAWRENCE QUINN. 

